[LurchySoprano]

I tend to agree with AcesMcGee's main point. I realize that the stats say that Carolina is a great defensive team in terms of point per possession allowed, but just simply watching games should tell you that we're not. I think we are a bit underrated defensively by the common fan, but (I hate saying this) Duke seems to be on another level defensively then we are. Part of that has to do with the pace we play and our inexperience last season. The fact that we can make that big stop now in a close game, something we struggled time and time again to do last year is already a big positive step in the right direction.

What I will disagree with is your reasoning for the losses to Gonzaga, Virginia Tech, and Maryland last season. The reason was lost is we had an inexperienced backcourt of Lawson/Ellington that had trouble containing dribble penetration from much older players. Gonzaga started Ravio (SR) and Pargo (SO with lots of PT as a frosh), VT started COllins (SR) and Dowdell (SR), while MD started Strawberry (SR) in the backcourt. These teams exploited Lawson and Ellington's inexperience and dribbled to the rim at will. I've seen a lot less of that (so far) this year which makes me think it was those two adjusting to college basketball as much as anything else.